Have you heard of the BUMBLEance?
B
UMBLEance, the World’s 1st interactive children’s ambulance was revealed for the first time in Ireland last September. It is the brainchild of Tony Heffernan, who along with his wife Mary founded the Saoirse Foundation in March 2010 after their late daughter Saoirse, who passed away in Jan 2011.
The Heffernans said at the time; "Speaking from our personal experience, we saw the stress our late daughter Saoirse experienced when undertaking many ambulance journeys from the family home in rural Ireland to the National Children’s Hospitals in Dublin. We decided that there was no point doing nothing about it".
Every parent knows that an ambulance journey with a child can be very traumatic, however within BUMBLEance, fun is the medicine of the day, making an ambulance journey less stressful and fun. The vehicle is used to transport sick children to scheduled appointments between home and the various National Treatment Centres and Hospice /Respite Centres.
The latest AV equipment is inter-connected onboard via a “Control 4” system and allows the child, using a single controller, to operate the 19-inch LED TV, DVD, iPad, Nubi, and Sony PlayStation console, with a full library of films, apps, e-books, music and games available, from the comfort of the latest Ferno stretcher.
The on-board dual channel WiFi allows internet browsing, social media engagement as well as Skype calls to be made to anywhere in the world. Members of the public will be able to message or tweet their best wishes to the child on-board, who can track their progress using satellite monitoring. There are also two fridges available to the family, to store necessary food, beverages and medicine.
The Saoirse Foundation, which receives no State funding for this service, is reminding the public again that donations are integral to the future of the BUMBLEance service in Ireland and its growth. The charity is also hoping to collect used mobile phones, sufficient to allow the service operate for 52 weeks of the year.
The Saoirse Foundation is renewing this appeal now, and offering you the chance to win an amazing prize too. There are three ways to donate, and each one will win you entries into a draw for a brand new Mercedes Benz.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vkdj9J0NZM
To get involved and find out more, click
here.
